Barbie clothes

Two weeks ago I mentioned that I used over 38 pounds of yarn last year. The 180+ projects included 74 caps of various sizes and descriptions - everything from premie caps to watchcaps for the Seaman's Church Institute to give to the men who work on the barges on the rivers. Also 35 scarves, 21 dishcloths, 9 pairs of socks, 7 children's sweaters, and other miscellaneous items.

So far this year I've finished four or five projects, including these pajamas for Lexi's Barbie doll, which I did yesterday. I got the pants done while she was at school and was working on the top when she got home. She put the pants on the doll and didn't like the way they fit. She thinks the waistbands of pants are supposed to rest where you take your hip measurement. These pants are meant to come up to the waist. She started having a conniption about that, so I told her to put on her coat and get in the car. I knew Alyssa was home from work (she had called shortly before noon and said she was home and was going to take a nap until time for Lexi to get home), so I dropped Lexi off there. I figured there was no reason I had to put up with her fussing when her mom was home.

The PJ's are knit of leftover sock yarn. The self-striping stuff makes the top look quite complicated, doesn't it? It's really just plain knitting - the color changes are caused by the way the yarn is dyed. I've made Barbie clothes with the leftovers before. It's sort of fun and is a good way to use the little bits that are left after making a pair of socks.

After-school Snack

Lexi wanted something to eat when she got home from school, and she wanted to get it herself. She was trying to find something in the refrigerator, when I mentioned that I had bought some bananas. She thought that sounded good, but she had to dress it up. Those are mini pretzel rods stuck through the banana. Looks like a racing scull, or a centipede. She'd already taken a bite before she showed it to me.

Alyssa brought back Dominic's TV this afternoon, so Bob has something to keep his eyes and mind occupied. That makes me feel better. Bob's been walking around our tiny town the last couple of days, learning where everything is. On Tuesday, I took him to the social services office, and to Social Security to get his address changed with them. He's using my address now until he gets into his own place. Because of his disability, he qualifies for a medical card, which will come in the mail in a couple of weeks. In the meantime, we need to locate a doctor for him.

Changes

We now have another family member in KY. My son-in-law, Bob, arrived on Friday. He'll be living in a trailer that Alyssa's landlord owns a little way down the street from her. He rode to Mayfield with me this morning when I went to have some bloodwork done at the hospital there. I asked about doctors for him. He had a series of strokes in 2006, the last one quite serious, so he needs to find a doctor here who specializes in stroke patients. We'll have to call the hospitals in Paducah as well.

We also went to the library. I've decided to read the Mary Poppins books to Lexi, so I checked out the first one. Maybe after I've read some of them to her, Alyssa can rent the movie and let her (us; I'd like to see it again) watch it. When the movie came out in 196? whatever, one of my co-workers insisted that the books had just been written in response to the movie. I told her that they had been written at least twenty years before. At the little, one-room, country school in Minnesota where I began my formal education, we usually had a quiet time after lunch. We would put out heads down on our desks and the teacher would read to us. I remember her reading Mary Poppins. My favorite character was the woman who could break off her fingers, which would become stick-candy, and then the fingers would grow back. Each finger was a different flavor. I'm looking forward to re-reading the books; they're so much fun!

I took Bob over to Alyssa's house about an hour ago. He's bored stiff here, because there's nothing for him to do. Unfortunately, he's never been much of a reader. At least at Alyssa's he can watch movies, or even TV if anything will come in. I don't have TV at all. Alyssa only gets whatever comes in with the little antenna on the set. She's not interested enough in TV to pay for cable or dish or any such thing, and she also doesn't want Lexi watching too much. The channel that comes in well is KET, which has some good things for Lexi to watch. Bob will get cable as soon as he can, because it's important to him. He has no use of his left arm, so there's not much he can do. The TV (mostly sports, I think) will keep him entertained.

Mostly about Lexi

Lexi started the year off well. Yesterday she brought me breakfast in bed - a slice of bread spread with Nutella. She did very well with using the right amount - I usually put on too much and then wonder why. I had to make my own coffee when I got up.

At lunch time, she fixed sandwiches for us - Swiss cheese with mayo on Pepperidge Farm white bread for me, and crunchy peanut butter and grape jelly on Bunny bread (regional Wonder equivalent) for her. She cut mine in half as I like it and trimmed off the crusts from hers as she likes it. She also did quite a bit of the supper preperation (no black eyed peas). Her mom was here for that before she went to deliver pizzas.

Lexi's been wanting to climb trees, so I told her she could climb the flowering crab apple that is near the house. She can't go far in it, because the branches are not that strong, but at least it's a start on tree-climbing. We walked around the yard to see if she can climb any others. There are several that she needs to be a bit taller to reach the bottom branches, mainly because I've trimmed them so that I can mow under them easily. There's another flowering crab a little down the hill that she can probably climb, as well, but we didn't walk down there. I don't trust myself to walk downhill in the tall grass.
This picture is a bit late. It's Lexi in a sheep costume for the Christmas pageant at church on Christmas Eve. Last year (2006) she was an angel, but she decided at that time that she wanted to be a sheep this year (2007). Who knows what she'll decide to be in 2008.

School resumed today. She spent the night here, but her gloves, scarf and back pack were at her house. It was cold, so she really needed the gloves and scarf. She used some of mine. The scarf was fine, but the gloves were a quite big, although they are slightly stretchy and a little small on me. Yesterday afternoon, she picked out some yarn from my stash and I started knitting gloves for her. I finished them just before she got home from school afternoon. Of course I took several breaks to vacuum, eat lunch, etc. They are my first project for 2008; I've already entered them on my Excel spreadsheet.


Knitting

My final count for 2007 is 186 projects, about 38.16 pounds of yarn. That doesn't count the work I've done on the croched bedspread for Yvette. My stash does look smaller; there is no longer yarn in the dining room.

Reading

I've read 86 books, 9 of them to Lexi. Of course, I've also read a lot of the little read-at-one-sitting type books to her, as well, but don't think they are worth listing. I also didn't list a couple of books of poetry that I think I've read all of to her. A year ago, I tried to read a longer book to her, but she wasn't interested; now she loves it. She also reads to me sometimes, mostly her school work.

Happy New Year - 2008

Last day of the year! And I had an appointment with my oncologist. The Cancer Center was quieter than usual. There was only one other person in the treatment room when I got my Zometa; there are usually at least half a dozen. My kappa and lambda light chains were OK in my blood work four weeks ago, so Dr B is just going to keep an eye on those numbers for a while longer, and not refer me for evaluation for bone marrow transplantation. My white cell count is low, so she wants another CBC done next week. My blood is a little thinner than is should be, so she told me how to adjust my coumadin dosage. She also wants to adjust my Thalidomide dosage, partly because I'm having slight tingling in my fingertips when I type - sounds like the beginning of neuropathy caused by the Thalidomide.

Lexi

She spent Saturday night here. Yesterday I awoke about 7, but decided not to get up until Lexi did. I opened one eye several times when I heard her cot creak, but I must have dozed off at some point, because I didn't hear or see her leave the bedroom. Next thing I knew, she jumped into the room and said (loudly), "Breakfast is served." She had pulled a stool over to the refrigerator and got down two boxes of cereal (Doesn't everyone keep the cereal on top of the fridge?), and actually put the stool back! She used the last of the milk, so she rinsed out the container to be recycled and threw away the cap. She was very proud of herself, and even had to tell the priest about it after church.

Her vacation is coming to an end. School resumes on Wednesday. I think she has enjoyed the time off, and is happy with the things she got for Christmas.

Local Disaster

Last Wednesday, the Carlisle County courthouse burned. No on was hurt. There are fewer than thirty people who work in the courthouse (it's a small county), and they will be housed in other places temporarily. I'll need to find out where to renew my car registration before May. I went into Bardwell after church yesterday to see what it looks like. I was surprised to see a crew there with a couple of pieces of construction/destruction equipment, knocking down the parts that were still standing - on Sunday!

Vacation

I've been enjoying a few days by myself. Lexi's Christmas vacation started at noon on Wednesday, and Alyssa dropped her off at her grandparents' house on her way to work a few hours later (her daddy lives next to them). She'll be back in Milburn tomorrow evening for the rest of the vacation. At 4 pm tomorrow, she will be a sheep in the Christmas pageant at my church. The pageant will be followed by a eucharist service. Since I will be going to that, I'm skipping church today - thirty miles is a long way.

Cleaning out

I'm probably the only person who has acrylic rings on her eucalyptus. That's Lexi's work, of course.

I think I'm developing a reputation! And I guess I helped spread it this morning. I decided that it's time to get all of the hats, socks, children's sweaters, etc that I've been knitting the last few months out of my house. Except for the watchcaps and mariner's scarves that I make specifically for the Seaman's Church Institute, I thought I'd donate them all to Paducah Cooperative Ministries. Then I decided to see if I could donate some things more locally even than that. I called the local state social services office and asked if they knew of a local agency that could use such things. They suggested the Family Resource Center at the school, so I called that agency. They were glad to accept my work, so I drove over there and gave them a grocery bag full of handknit items. That's the 'spreading the reputation' part.

When I got home from there, I called Paducah Cooperative Ministries, told them that I had some handknit items to donate, and asked if someone would be there tomorrow to accept them. I wanted to take them on the same trip that I take bottles and cans to the recycle 'event.' No one will be there tomorrow. The lady asked where I live. When I said Milburn in Carlisle County (people get us confused with Melber in Graves County), she said, "You go to Grace Church, don't you?" I had not said my name, but she knew about me because I had donated a bunch of stuff several months ago. That's the reputation part. Anyway, I'll take that bag of stuff to church with me on Sunday, and ask Matt (parish administrator, or whatever his title is) to get it to PCM.

Then I can start all over again, using up more of my stash. I've pared it down by about 37 pounds this year. That's what I've knit. I've also given some yarn away - yarn that I know I don't like using. I should lose that much in body weight!